EUROPEAN COMMISSION DG Competition

Case M.9668 - JD SPORTS FASHION / IBERIAN SPORTS RETAIL GROUP

Only the English text is available and authentic.

REGULATION (EC) No 139/2004 MERGER PROCEDURE

Article 6(1)(b) NON-OPPOSITION Date: 24/01/2020

In electronic form on the EUR-Lex website under document number 32020M9668

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 24.1.2020 C(2020) 495 final

PUBLIC VERSION

To the notifying party

Dear Sir or Madam,

1.1. On 17 December 2019, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the undertaking JD Sports Fashion Plc ('JD') (the United Kingdom) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of the undertaking Iberian Sports Retail Group SL ('ISRG') (Spain), currently jointly controlled by JD, Sonae, SGPS, S.A. and Balaiko Firaja Invest S.L. The concentration is accomplished by way of contract.

2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

- JD: retail of sports apparel and footwear; operation of fitness centres in the United Kingdom. The majority shareholder of JD is Pentland Group, which is active in the wholesale supply of branded outdoor products to outdoor retailers.

- ISRG: specialised retail sale of sports goods in Spain and Portugal. ISRG was previously known as JD Sprinter Holdings 2010, S.L.

3.3. After examination of the notification, the European Commission has concluded that the notified operation falls within the scope of the Merger Regulation and of

1OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’). With effect from 1 December 2009, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’) has introduced certain changes, such as the replacement of ‘Community’ by ‘Union’ and ‘common market’ by ‘internal market’. The terminology of the TFEU will be used throughout this decision.

2OJ L 1, 3.1.1994, p. 3 (the ‘EEA Agreement’).

3Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 5, 9.1.2020, p. 5.

Commission européenne, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Bruxelles, BELGIQUE Europese Commissie, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Brussel, BELGIË

Tel: +32 229-91111. Fax: +32 229-64301. E-mail: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu.

paragraph 5(d) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004.

4. For the reasons set out in the Notice on a simplified procedure, the European Commission has decided not to oppose the notified operation and to declare it compatible with the internal market and with the EEA Agreement. This decision is adopted in application of Article 6(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation and Article 57 of the EEA Agreement.

For the Commission

(Signed) Olivier GUERSENT Director-General

4OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.

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